Dad 2.0 Podcast

Right around the time the Christmas Jammies videos became an annual thing, Penn Holderness left a news anchor job (when he never saw his family) to start a media company with his wife, Kim (and saw his family every moment of every day). When they started focusing on their own content, the Holderness Family became an Internet phenomenon with almost 600,000 YouTube subscribers. We talk about life as a preacher's kid in Durham, North Carolina, how he learned to love his livelihood by producing news items, and why airing their issues on their podcast is one of their favorite times of the week.

You think you know a guy, and then Michael Ian Black turns his sardonically comic persona on its head with his terrific new book, A Better Man, a (mostly) serious letter to his college-aged son, Elijah. Male role models were scarce after Black's dad died abruptly when he was 12, so Black essentially had to build his understanding of manhood from scratch. He kept his faith that experience would teach him what he needed to know when he needed to know it. Thankfully, now it's all written down. In our keynote conversation at Dad 2.0 Digital, Black touches on discovering comedy to process (and paper over) his grief, protecting your kids from your fame, and aspiring to be the Elaine Stritch of fatherhood.

After 57 episodes, Jeff and Doug wrap Season 2 with a state-of-the-business chat, about doors closed and subsequent windows opened. Press trips are returning, cold pitches are finding warmer ears, and we're focusing our efforts to make family life easier and reverse America's plummeting birth rate. Plus: Do people really want to watch our podcast? How do you pronounce Fodor's? And stay tuned for Season 3, which will debut with our opening keynote conversation at Dad 2.0 Digital with author and comedian Michael Ian Black!

Since Taylor Calmus defines a Dude Dad as "an invested father dedicated to raising kids in the most epic way possible," he says he's clearly not the only one. And he's quick to thank his parents (who sent him from rural South Dakota to LA for "a semester abroad") and his wife Heidi (who refused to let him quit) for facilitating and inspiring Dude Dad's success. Since speaking at Dad 2.020 in February, Taylor has moved to Colorado, co-created his third child, and shot eight episodes of his new TV show Super Dad, which will arrive with the debut of the new Magnolia (formerly DIY) Network. We talk about raising free-range kids, the beauty of Rube Goldberg contraptions, and why Heidi makes him apologize for stuff he does in her dreams.

What Fresh Hell podcast co-creators Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson will tell you: the best recipe for a successful online content marriage is when one is an Idea Cannon and the other knows her way around a spreadsheet. Together, they've converted their careers as writer/performers and complementary business savvy into millions of downloads and a full slate of advertisers. Join us as we discuss how they augment the podcast with video and live shows, how their business and content strategies have evolved over their four years together, and how all parents can work together to keep the pandemic from drumming moms out of the workforce.

When Brad Meltzer delivered the opening keynote at the 2016 Dad 2.0 Summit, his core message was about legacy, and our impact on everyone from our families to total strangers. And of the myriad genres his career has spanned — fiction, nonfiction, television, comic books, etc. — he considers his I Am series as his proudest legacy, to his and strangers' kids all over the world. The stories of Anne Frank and Benjamin Franklin (the 21st and 22nd volumes, respectively) arrive at a time that could not be more timely. We discuss the importance of depicting heroes as the fearful and flawed humans they are, and how Brad tries to use their failures to inspire kids to persevere.

The episode's title fits Cleveland Dads Group co-founder Darren W. Carter well, both as a foster parent of five ("As long as I am here, I'll have love to give") and aspiring pitmaster ("I'll shovel out to my pit barrel cooker before I shovel my driveway"), because parenting and barbecue are sweet sciences that benefit from the mistakes you're bound to make and learn from. Darren says his faith helps temper his fears for the Black boys he's raising in this current climate. Join us to discuss growing up in a predominantly white suburb, that time a cop pulled a gun on him, and whether he ever dated Halle Berry.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada (and don't call it "Canadian Thanksgiving") with Torontonian Casey Palmer, who began blogging with purpose seven years ago when his first son was born. Now he's set his sights on thornier social issues and risked his PR-friendliness, in part because his sons are older, but mostly because he can't see any other reason to write other than to speak his truth. Join us for a discussion about how his perspectives changed after George Floyd was killed, how he's revamping his entire SEO strategy to rank better in the topics that mean the most to him, and why he never ventures west of Yonge Street anymore. 

The first Dad 2.0 Digital began with a Black book and concluded with a Kind heart, and dads from all over the world tuned in for three days of programming delivered directly to our desktops. Tune in for an extended discussion about the importance of meeting more than once a year, how digital events will factor into Dad 2.0's events from now on, and where do kids discover new music now, anyway? Plus: A chat with Dr. Mimi Ito, co-founder of Dad 2.0 Sponsor Connected Camps, about how this nonprofit creates interactive, online classes for kids to learn science and math from a community of friendly coders, builders, players and designers!

When John Kinnear started his Ask Your Dad blog, he established himself as one of the online dad community's premiere Answer Men. As Marketing Director at Clearlink and site manager at Reviews.org, he has come to Dad 2.0 Summit many times to teach us how to be the signal amid the noise and create the best user experience for our readers, customers, and followers. Influencer marketing has evolved enough to demand innovation, both in the content we create and the metrics we rely on. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to stand out in a crowded marketplace, and anyone who thinks crowding your recipe blog with a blathery preamble helps your SEO. 

Tom Riles has made a career by turning bad situations into better situations. When his PA job was ending, Henry Winkler asked him to move to LA. He met his wife while they were busting fingers playing 16-inch softball. And on the day he learned his infant daughter would need heart surgery, he started the blog that became Life of Dad. Join us as we discuss his new book MOM VS. DAD, 16 years as Ellen DeGeneres's hype man, and when John Krasinski taught him how to be Conan O'Brien's script intern.

This week, Reality Changers creator Jorge Narvaez offers up a healthy dose of the reality he'd like to change, both as a stay-at-home dad and full-time content creator. The stress of confinement can sap your creativity, and Jorge discusses how the key to perseverance is to embrace an "abundance mindset." Ever since his musical ThreeNote at Dad 2.018, we've marveled at Jorge's optimism and his commitment to his family and the online dad community. Join us for a great talk about negotiating with brands, how "whoa" doesn't necessarily have to mean "woe is me," and what it's like to attend a virtual sweat lodge.

James Lopez has built Fatherhood Is Lit on several tenets he tries to live up to every day: Be different, be proud, have fun, and don't settle. And when it comes to working with brands, be unorthodox. He'd rather invest his time in father/child events that have a far more lasting impact than an ephemeral post on social media. James wasn't always comfortable being called an influencer or a stay-at-home dad, until he decided both terms are open to wide interpretation. And he's eager to talk about his complex childhood in the South Bronx, how his Master's degree in computer science informs his entrepreneurship, and why blackjack is excellent for teaching your kid math. 

In March 2018, Alec Lace didn't know what a podcast was. Within a year, he was representing his First Class Fatherhood podcast on Media Day at the Super Bowl. Alec works hard, but he also works smart, which is the only way you can work two jobs, parent four kids, and post 382 podcast episodes in 909 days.  Join us for a frank, rapidly paced discussion about Alec's early life as the son of a used car salesman in the South Bronx, where his pseudonym comes from (acronyms AND anagrams!), and how he became probably the first-ever railroad mechanic to join the White House press corps.  

Moments before attending his orientation as a rising junior at Berkeley, author Mike Adamick joined us to talk about his early career as a journalist, how his blog jump-started his book-writing career, and his new life as a college kid, studying sociology and gender relations with a peer group half his age. Mike is one of the oldest-school dadfluencers we know, having written extensively about making the most of his 14 years as a stay-at-home dad. We talk about the fragility of the male ego, the paradox of finding strength by acknowledging vulnerability, and how he'd make an excellent first Second Gentleman.

When you first encounter the Big Moose Energy of Dai Manuel, you might be surprised to learn about his struggles with obesity and alcohol abuse that respectively sabotaged his self-esteem and almost tanked his marriage. His successes are hard-won, and he's eager to share them to illustrate that most obstacles have a workaround. Dai kicked our butts at our first-ever fitness event at Dad 2.012, and we're excited to announce he'll be running three morning sessions focusing on physical and mental fitness at Dad 2.0 Digital. Tune in to learn more about moving his family to Bali for two years, moving them back to Vancouver just in time for COVID, and how he, his wife, and two teenage girls have survived quarantine in a 600-square-foot condo.

When "Chief Everything Correspondent" Josh Levs keynoted Dad 2.014, he had just launched an EEOC complaint challenging Time Warner's parental leave policy and announced his deal for All In, a compendium of several years of research into fatherhood. Six years later, he's still putting facts first, writing and speaking and teaching companies how to make workplaces more family-friendly. Moms and dads are working (and stressing out) equally, and we need to alleviate these pressures in part by acknowledging dads' struggles and reforming the corporate structures that perpetuate them.

Since 42 is the Answer to Everything, we devote this episode to introducing the world to Dad 2.0 Digital, our online event that will be delivered to you October 1-2-3, 2020. Much of the programming will be familiar — keynotes, breakouts, workshops, Spotlight readings, Sponsor networking, and Dad Voices, just like always — but with a bunch of new stuff, like viewing parties and meetups, 1:1 mentorship, and online activities with prizes! And if you've already bought a ticket for Dad 2.020 LA, you're all set for Digital and Dad 2.021!

Roberto Santiago first became known in the Dad 2.0 Community when he read a Spotlight post about caring for a child born with complete bilateral cleft lip and palate. That experience, of learning how to teach your kids to find comfort in their own skin, has been especially valuable now that his two oldest children have come out as nonbinary. We talk prejudices and pronouns, how to untangle sexual orientation from gender identity, how he and his wife encourage community and "social transitioning," and how to tell the difference between Drew Brees and J.K. Rowling. 

Part 2 of our discussion with educational pioneer Jaime Casap (check out Part 1 here) begins with a celebration of math as life, rather than a mere textbook full of static equations and formulas. We also continue our discussion of collaborative education, which gets so meta that Jeff and Jaime actually collaborate to finish saying a word! Jaime also discusses the unique joys and challenges of having kids aged 27, 19, and 5, and the vastly different fatherhood experience of each, and how solo days with his youngest, making up stories and talking about space travel, are so great way for jumpstarting creativity.